Al Capone And Family

Al Capone was the son of Italian immigrants, Gabriele and Teresina Capone. Capone was born on 17 January 1899 in Brooklyn. Based on the available information, it is believed that Capone had a normal childhood. His father was originally from Naples, while his mother, a seamstress by profession, was from Salerno.

It was Teresina was pregnant with her third child that the family moved to Brooklyn. Perhaps at that time Gabriele thought it was a good idea, but the culture of the borough may have ultimately influenced Al Capone to enter the world of crime.

Capone’s father was a barber, while his mother was a home make. He had 9 siblings in total. The family was very close to one another, and this is also evident from the fact that many of Capone’s brothers later joined him in his nefarious activities. However, his parents were upstanding citizens that worked hard to succeed in the new country of their residence.

Even though the family lived in Brooklyn, the parents wanted the Capone children to study and succeed in life. In fact, there is evidence to show that Al Capone was actually a good student. However, he found it difficult to adhere to the strict rules imposed by the Catholic school he was attending. As a result, when he was fourteen years old, Capone decided to discontinue studying. This decision was taken after the school expelled him for raising his hands on a lady teacher.

After quitting school, Capone spent his time doing odd jobs, such as working in a bowling alley and even working in a candy store. However, he did not stick very long to any job. It was during this period that he met Johnny Torrio, who went on to become his mentor and introduce him to the criminal underworld of New York.

Capone even joined a street gang that called itself South Brooklyn Rippers and later on he joined another gang that was named Five Points Juniors.

There is not too much information available on Capone and his family. But based on what is available, a few of his brothers handled different interests of his huge crime syndicate. In all probabilities, his sisters got married and raised their own family. Capone himself was married to a girl called Mae Josephine Coughlin. The couple wed on 30 December 1918, a month after the birth of their son, Albert Francis Capone. However, as Capone was not a major, his parents had to give in writing that they had no objections to him getting married.

Al Capone and St. Valentine’s Day Massacre are synonymous with one another. It was the killing of Bugs Moran gang members by Al Capone on 14 February 1929 that earned this dubious title. This was during the time when prohibition was imposed in the US. As a result, gangs in cities were becoming rich by bootlegging, and owning breweries, speakeasies, gambling dens and brothels. This also led to a lot of gang rivalry as each gang wanted to dominate and control these businesses in the cities they were operating in. More..